Baird's Hiring of Illegal Aliens Spotlights Nationwide Violations

Article excerpt

ZOE BAIRD, the erstwhile nominee for attorney general, caught
heavy flak for hiring two illegal aliens as domestic servants. But
hundreds of thousands of United States residents are equally guilty.

Specialists on immigration say an estimated 2 million to 3
million undocumented illegal aliens in the US hold down full-time
jobs.

Many, like the two Peruvians hired by Ms. Baird, work as
domestic servants. Even more are employed in restaurants,
factories, and outdoors in farming, fishing, and forestry.

Baird paid a heavy price for her violation. She was forced by
public anger to withdraw her nomination. But most violators,
including many wealthy Americans, escape penalties.

With unemployment high, and firms such as Sears and General
Motors laying off thousands, Baird's hiring of illegals sent a wave
of fury through middle America. Analysts say no recent event has so
sharply drawn a line between working-class Americans and rich
elites.

Baird's defenders called her violation "technical." She reminded
the Senate Judiciary Committee that hiring her domestic workers was
a civil violation, not a criminal one. Three such violations,
however, turn it into a criminal offense, punishable by prison
terms and heavy fines.

Dan Stein, executive director of the Federation for American
Immigration Reform, says the incident "underscores the whole
national debate about exploitation and hiring of illegal aliens."

President Bush, in a report to Congress in July 1991, warned
that tolerance of illegal immigration is eroding respect for the
law.

Hiring illegals was not always against the law. But in the
1980s, Congress became concerned that a flood of illegals was
taking away jobs from US citizens.

After heated debate, lawmakers passed the Immigration Reform and
Control Act of 1986 (IRCA), which made it unlawful to hire anyone
who did not hold proper documents.